Archive

Knight Frank says it’s opened six new offices over the past two years, and hired 14 new partners, as part of...

Artificial Intelligence is now a part of all our lives, but my attention was grabbed recently by an AI critique of...

In the bustling world of social media, success isn't just about posting content; it's about fostering engagement, maintaining consistency, and implementing...

Gender-based discrimination remains an issue with the estate agency sector and many female victims are choosing not to report issues, an...

Alto has announced a new integration with secure messaging platform Tappter. Existing Alto customers can get seamlessly set up with Tappter to...

Borrowers are currently rolling off relatively favourable two-year fixed-rate deals agreed at the start of 2022, but the pain from higher...

A new product has launched that protects homeowners from the growing threat of property-related frauds. Title Guardian is an app that monitors...

Large language models, machine learning, artificial intelligence, artificial general intelligence, and 'the singularity' change everything, but there again, they change literally...

Irwin Mitchell has expanded its property practice with an investment in Scotland-based law firm Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie (WJM). The two firms...

Estate agency has changed. No longer is it required to sit in a high street office working the old way. Provide a...

The term mixed-tenure development usually refers to residential developments where different residential tenures are provided on the same site. Typically, tenure was...

By Dawson Scott, CTO of Reapit. As the Chief Technology Officer of Reapit, I have always held the view that the privacy,...

Success with your chosen CRM solution should not be a one-and-done package. Once you team up with a stellar CRM provider,...

CRMs can be superheroes for your business, but not all of them possess the necessary powers to save the day. As...

By adopting a top-notch Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, you're not only opening doors to acquiring new customers and nurturing existing...

New software has been launched to help estate agents collect feedback on viewings. Feedback Enterprise, from the Cumbrian communications specialists SMS Speedway,...

Black mould associated with condensation is becoming an increasing problem for homes in the UK and following the tragic death of...

Lies, damned lies, and statistics this week. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel as though I’m being bombarded...

And…breathe. For a while back there, the only certainty for the housing market was uncertainty. That isn’t to say the election of Rishi...

Many experts are predicting that house price growth will slow for the remainder of the year as the cost of living...

Yorkshire agent Preston Baker has sold its lettings portfolio to focus on residential sales. It has offloaded its book of more than...

WhatsApp is being predicted to become a key messaging tool for estate agents in the coming years. Messaging provider SMS Speedway analysed...

The government is being urged to go further with its clampdown on fake reviews. A government announcement aimed at protecting consumers last...

The international reviews service Trustpilot has batted away criticism from a property website that it ignores breaches of its guidelines. Last week,...

A bid to regulate second home ownership in part of the UK through changes to planning policy will add complexity and...

OnTheMarket has inked a deal with Kremer Signs to supply agents with Smartboards to be added to For Sale signs -...

Will he stay or will he go? You don’t need me to say who ‘he’ is - it’s the only story...

RICS has appointed Lord Michael Bichard to lead a wide-ranging independent review into the governance and purpose of the institution. The review...

A PropTech platform is urging agents to keep in touch with clients on their databases to increase their chances of future...

PropTech has seen a surge in uptake over the last few years for several reasons – be it the Covid-19 pandemic...

Tech stack is a term often used nowadays to describe all the software tools within a business. Calling it a stack...

PropTech is booming, and its rise was only accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the real estate industry – as...

Disclaimer: This article is intended for information only and does not constitute legal advice. As part of its 2020 budget, the UK...

By the time I next write this column, we’ll be just days before the next Budget and Autumn Statement. So I’ll...

With the competition for new listings between agents as fierce as ever, it can sometimes feel like a race to the...

The independent QC leading a review into the governance scandal at the RICS says there was “no fraudulent or criminal misbehaviour”...

There’s already plenty of talk about autumn - depressing huh? - with agents pondering how the housing market will respond to...

Trust the process: subscribe your landlords and tenants to Task Plans and receive automated prompts when it’s the right time to...

Let it never be said that this column isn’t here to help out agents directly. In this week’s Natter, I speak...

A new survey of some 700 estate agency customers show that they want to get traditional services like High Street branches,...

House prices are 7.1 per cent above their level a year ago as the boom continues. The latest house price index, from...

Hello and welcome to another working week, and the latest on jobs and staff movement across our industry. You can be part...

As you’ll know by now, I like to use the Natter to shine a light on independent agents doing things a...

As a property agent, fancy marketing terminology such as ‘omnichannel’ might not hold too much interest for you right now. We’re in...

The president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors insists that the organisation is acting on recommendations of a probe into...

The Sunday Times has made new and detailed allegations regarding the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. For some weeks the newspaper has...

With the Government announcement this week of another national lockdown across England amid the surging coronavirus infections, it once again puts...

To kick off 2021, we have a Q&A with one of the most high-profile – and, it has to be said,...

Around half of all estate agencies selling homes for £5m or more have not even registered for anti-money laundering processes, and/or...

Recent debate about urgent need for reform and better collaboration within the property industry, has once again come under the spotlight...

The Federation of Independent Agents trade group has unveiled a new automated nurture product available exclusively to members - and it claims...

Rezi’s integration with Zapier has transformed the way in which estate agents can now save time, money and resource. Agents are...

Newspapers are pushed through the door, whereas websites have to pull in visitors - it’s a simple but fundamental difference with vast implications...

Knight Frank is in talks with HM Revenue and Customs to return furlough money as a result of relatively strong trading, notwithstanding...

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher announced that the introduction of the Renters' Reform Bill will be delayed for an indefinite period due...

It’s been an unexpected year for the property market, shaped by the effects of the pandemic. We didn’t quite anticipate the...

A new PropTech product claims to help agents generate and nurture leads - even while they sleep. MovePal generates leads through Facebook...

Seller and landlord leads are what makes estate agency tick. Without them, new business is nowhere to be seen and you...

In my last Natter, I explored the differences between estate agency in the UK and the US with the help of...

New information has come to light which suggests that a leading marketing platform may be planning to step into the CRM...

NAEA Propertymark is calling on agents to show “greater diligence” when dealing with Russian buyers, in the light of the report...

"New property website launches. Not immediately sure what it does differently, what its USP is or who will use it, but...

A former City analyst best known for his scathing criticisms of Purplebricks has launched a PropTech platform that he describes as...

There’s no doubt we’re in a less-than-rosy phase of the property cycle. This, however, is not another doom and gloom piece:...

Rightmove, Zoopla and even OnTheMarket could make money even if they did not charge agents anything at all to list properties....

The company at the centre of a controversy over estate agents’ business interruption insurance says its core package does NOT cover...

There’s something of a conspiracy of silence over the problem of short lets. That is a stark claim but many siren voices...

Why should agencies leave voicemail in the last decade and make 2020 the year to invest in a more modern solution? Voicemail...

Understanding the customer journey plays a huge role in the success of any estate agent. From that very first viewing right through...

With Brexit still unresolved, the domestic agenda has been pushed from the headlines by the seemingly overwhelming public and political discord...

The Australian agent is a very different beast to his or her British counterpart - and it’s not just because we...

love2move, which offers High Street agents a white-labelled digital platform that allows them to offer online services to vendors, has revealed...

A traditional property agent says critics of Purplebricks underestimate the beneficial impact the firm has had on the UK agency industry. And...

You’ve probably heard about unified communications (UC) before. But why are your competitors and other organisations moving towards centralised comms platforms? What are...

The Australian agent is a very different beast to his or her British counterpart - no surprises there. And it’s not...

Purplebricks - which is at the centre of a string of controversies - has joined the growing campaign for stamp duty...

OnTheMarket says it will not increase listing charges in 2020 for any agents currently paying full fees, while agencies which list on only...

A company operating the controversial Modern Method of Auction says it is trying to improve the sector’s image after a series...

‘Property ghosting’ is a problem that nearly all estate and letting agencies will face at one time or another. Ghosting, which is...

Two of the highest profile independent estate agencies in the north of England have merged following a spectacular acquisition. Linley & Simpson...

A former Territory Owner at Purplebricks, who at one time managed 11 Local Property Experts, has spoken out in support of...

Trading in OnTheMarket’s shares was subject to two so-called Price Monitoring Extensions - temporary freezing of transactions because of erratic movements. The...

The leasehold system has created many unsellable and unmortgageable homes and should change, MPs say. The all-party Housing, Communities and Local Government...

When it comes to building online reputation, Google is king. It is estimated that over 90% of consumers Google a business before...

Even with 2019 well underway, letting agents need to keep refining their long-term goals and business targets. For agencies with a...

Conveyancing regularly adds unnecessary and costly delays to the home buying process and improvement could be far quicker than any efforts...

On the face of it, this year’s Budget was not what you could describe as ‘housing heavy’ in terms of the...

Technology is transforming the way we comply with Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulation. It is providing a consistent approach, reliable outcomes...

The online agency acquired by Purplebricks in Canada has started facing the same criticisms that its parent company have faced in...

A new survey suggests that face-to-face contact is still valued by buyers and sellers. Research by Winkworth, questioning over 1,000 people who...

The government says its funding schemes such as Help To Buy will no longer be applied to what it calls “unjustified...

I have total transparency. I love that.  I know how the portals are doing, I know how many people are clicking on...

To say I had a lot of reaction to last week's column about selling my flat would be an understatement. I've never...

Your buy-to-let investment is an extremely valuable asset and you need to know the income generated from it will be safely...

Agents have welcomed more data suggesting the 2018 market is enjoying a robust start. Last week Rightmove reported a record number of...

While there is a distinct market for flats held on particularly short leases, there is a middle ground where flat owners...

Housing may have taken centre stage in the Budget but most of the industry appears to remain sceptical of whether the...

An online platform has been launched with the aim of allowing first time buyers to seek crowdfunding to raise enough cash...

Purplebricks’ well-publicised attempt to break into the Australian market with a similar model to the one being used here has come...

How many property professionals are truly happy with their revenue? High levels of competition from new market entrants is a significant...